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The Garden Magazine, January, 1924 
He has also driven away several pairs of wrens. He seems to think 
that as he has possession, he has “nine tenths of the law” on his side 
and evidently tries to enforce it.— Clara B. Bentley, Owosso, Mich. 
—As these warblers do not eat seeds they evidently frequent the 
tree in question for its available insect food. The golden-cheeked 
warbler is customarily known only from central Texas southward in 
winter to Guatemala—could this have been a case of mistaken identity 
or merely a happy accident? —Ed. 
How Abolish the Persistent Black Ant? 
To the Editors oj The Garden Magazine: 
A N OLD Apple tree in mv garden was filled with large black ants 
that welcomed the opportunity to nip the garden visitor. And 
now that the tree has been cut down the ants still remain in large num¬ 
bers and are a steady pest. I suppose they house themselves in such 
pieces of the old roots as still remain underground. If you or any of 
your readers can give me suggestions which will enable me to eradicate 
the pest, I shall be most grateful. 
I owe it to you to express my indebtedness to The Garden Maga¬ 
zine for a deal of help from every issue Largely because of its help I 
am able to keep in my small yard (about 30 x 40) a grass patch bordered 
by blooms from Crocus time to late Chrysanthemum time, without any 
flowerless period. And they are always large and fine—I believe be¬ 
cause I have acted upon suggestions in your pages.— Royal S. Pease, 
Annapolis, Maryland. 
Pine Shavings Manure for Spinach, Beets, and Eggplant 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
I N THE November issue, page 17s, there is a short letter in which the 
thought is conveyed that barnyard manure taken from stables where 
pine shavings are used as bedding is of little value. 
I wish to call the attention of your readers to a recent bulletin (No. 
195) published by Bert R. Hartwell and P. L. Crandall of Rhode Island 
State College, Kingston, R. I. This bulletin gives the results of differ¬ 
ent garden crops grown in an experiment where 16 tons of barnyard 
manure with shavings bedding is compared with the yields of the crops 
where 16 tons of manure was applied with straw used as bedding. 
Beets, Spinach, and Eggplant gave as good yields where the shavings 
manure was used as where the straw manure was used. Carrots gave 
about a 20 per cent, increase where the straw manure was used. In 
this same bulletin other data are given where various chemical fertilizers 
were added to the manure for various crops. Extra nitrogen added to 
the manure gave appreciable increases in some instances. A sentence 
in the summary reads: “Using the total yields of all crops grown in this 
area during the 6 years, it appears that under otherwise like conditions 
16 tons of stable manure gave about the same yield whether planer 
shavings and sawdust or straw had been used for bedding.” Of course 
the quality of the manure where planer shavings is used would vary.— 
A. C. Arny. In Charge of Earm Crops, Department of Agriculture 
University Farm, St. Paul, Minn. 
One Gardener’s Rosary 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
I ’VE been re-reading “The Open Column” in a year’s numbers. 1 
frequently enjoy myself, so, “looking backward.” While I read I 
thought that 1 must be peculiarly fortunate in mv gardening, in spite 
of rats that eat strawberries, nightlyjstray cats and dogs that manage to 
go gardening (or cultivating); hens that lift all barricades and surmount 
all difficulties; snakes that lunch on the toads I import; cut worms, top 
and root aphis, and inclemency of weather. 1 had last year, among 
natives, a most beautiful white Iris versicolor that never knew it had 
been transplanted; a pink Swamp Mallow which, in a dry place, had 
several flowers measuring eight inches across; plants two feet high of 
Corydalis, beautiful glaucous foliage and flowers of pink with yellow 
tip; our native yellow Helianthemum; Hepaticas which bloomed for a 
month; a plant of Mountain Holly which 1 found at the edge of our 
swamp; Betony, hardy white wild Morning-glory, cardinal Lobelia and 
the Philadelphia Lily. 
In “imports” received in exchange from other states: Yucca glauca; 
Eryngium aquaticum; Papaver orientalis, a charming flower; Leuco- 
crinum montana, a lovely little flower; Viola delphinifolia; Viola 
pedata bicolor; Callirhoe triangulata, whose white flowers came on 
after C. involucrata had gone, and stayed till freezes; Columbines 
from Arkansas, Montana, and Kansas. I have, too, a colony of 
Vermont Columbines; Coltsfoot and blue Cohosh; a Montana Po- 
tentilla with fern-like leaves; Heuchera americana; and lots of others. 
I had from seeds the California Wooly Bluecurls, Texas Bush Cypress, 
and Wild Lilac. 1 hope they live over. 
Among new plants to bloom last year was Origanum hvbridum; 
native Iris from Arkansas; rose color Spiderwort; and true Apogon 
Iris, blue. 
I have Chinese Bush Cherry which blooms in April, and Chinese 
Willow which throws leaves at the same time. Bunched together they 
make fairy-like bouquets. I have a shrub which came from Chico 
experiment station labeled Caragana; it has blue reverse on the 
white pea-shaped flowers. I have a Rose brought from China by 
F. N. Meyer, a Chinese yellow Rambler with a most romantic history. 
When first it blossomed well and I realized what a Rose it was, I 
arranged for the propagation so it might be given to a Rose-loving 
public. The nurseryman in the South died and the Rose was lost; 
the one in Pennsylvania had to give up trial gardens during the 
war and the Rose was lost; a letter written to the editor of a floral 
magazine was published, in an effort to locate the Rose elsewhere, 
and a letter came from the Pacific coast making inquiry. But the Rose 
appears to have vanished from the Presbyterian mission in China, 
where Meyer found it, in the Boxer war. It is now being propagated 
by an Oregonian, and there is now a chance for it to get a hearing in 
public. It was near to being lost in my own garden in the severe 
winter three years ago, for under the deep snows mice destroyed the 
parent bush and but one slender plant was left to me. I took from 
it all cuttings 1 could and sent to Oregon. It will not have been “lost ” 
forty years, like the White Kurume Azalea, but a good many years have 
passed since Meyer brought it to Americans. 
I see that a great number of people are troubled with non-blooming 
double Poet’s Narcissus. They arc thirsty fellows. Heavy wet soil, 
“sticky” soil, seems to suit them best, and plenty of water for them has 
always meant plenty of flowers for me. Van Sions delight in sitting 
at the edge of a running brook. 
If A. Dwight (May, 1922) has not yet found Fuchsia Riccartoni, he 
can get it of Howard & Smith, in California. Daphnes cneorum and 
Mezereum are to be had from Farr, and most other nurseries indeed. 
Speaking about yellow-flowered perennials (discussed last year) 1 
like as well as any for general gardening Buphthalmum salicifolium. 
It is a neat and graceful grower, flowers for a number of weeks, and can 
be used for beds or clumps. It is easily grown from seeds. Lepachys 
columnaris and Cassia marilandica are good, too, in background, and 
the native Partridge Pea, dwarf grower, is desirable to me. 
I like to experiment, and I do it. I grow dozens of kinds, and I’ve 
grown and lost dozens of kinds. I also grow a choice assortment of 
weeds, but, in summing up, I can finish as I started—I must be peculiarly 
fortunate in my gardening.—M. E. Main, IVesterly, Rhode Island. 
Beware of the Moonflower 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
A FTER reading “The Moonflower as a Porch Vine” in your maga¬ 
zine for June, 1 would utter a word of warning. I fully agree with 
the writer as to its rapid and thick growth; nothing can surpass it. 
But the falling of the bloom and the raspy dead leaves make a constant 
litter, and besides that it is such a nuisance as to spreading that it 
threatens to smother and choke every plant or shrub near it. 
1 started in to kill the vine by my porch, but even though I fought 
it systematically with spade and kerosene all the long season, it is com¬ 
ing up this year over a wider radius than ever. It is so persistent that 
it almost seems some evil thing, more than just a plant. 
I find Akebia quinata a most satisfactory vine, hardy, vigorous, clean, 
and free from insect pests. It is beautiful from its first delicate, grace¬ 
ful bloom throughout the year, as it is almost evergreen. 
Shower of Gold (sent from the Fay Rose Garden, Woods Hole, Mass., 
in the days of that remarkable Rose grower, Mr. Walsh) is a most de¬ 
lightful yellow climbing Rose, vigorous, with handsome foliage and in its 
season a mass of bloom. To my mind it is finer here than any I have 
seen at its original home—the buds are exquisite. —Anna E. Hill, 
Knightstown, Indiana. 
Mistaken Identities or Mixed Labels 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
W OULD someone very kindly enlighten this bewildered amateur? In 
fall of 1922 I purchased a special offer of superbum Lilies, together 
with some candidum and auratum bulbs. I quite carelessly planted 
the superbums in very stiff clay with only a little coarse sand and gravel 
at the bottom of the trench for drainage. The candidum bulbs, on 
